


Dragon's Tribute

by KateLeeShadows (ThirteenRedVampireBites), ThirteenRedVampireBites



Series: Creative Writing Course Spring 2017 [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: And by mentioned i mean its implied by the colors of the Dragons, Dragon Wizards, Dragons, F/F, F/M, M/M, Mainly MxM Sorry, Multi, Not extended to give the other pairs though theyre mentioned, Shapeshifter Dragons, Short One Shot, This will probably be extended at some point... but not for a while. Sorry., Tributes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-02
Updated: 2017-02-02
Packaged: 2018-09-21 14:59:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9553697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThirteenRedVampireBites/pseuds/KateLeeShadows, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThirteenRedVampireBites/pseuds/ThirteenRedVampireBites
Summary: The time has come again for the Dragons of the Mountains to take their tributes.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I know, I know, this isn't what you wanted but alas, I'm not finished with the next chapter of DHT so you'll have to wait until next week. This will probably be expanded at some point, so if that's something you wanna see, let me know. 
> 
> In other news, I've changed how my Patreon account is set up so that it's a monthly fee rather than a pay by post fee, which should make some of you happy. 
> 
> In other, other news, I have a poll for you to fill out in regards to what you guys wanna see next. Don't hesitate to send me a message if you need anything. Link will be in the notes at the end. 
> 
> ~Kate-Lee
> 
> **EDIT** (Mar3) - Poll is closed and the winners are: _New York Home_ \- 14, _The Chosen Omega_ \- 10, and _By Gray Light_ \- 7. Link to the first chapter of NYH will be down below.
> 
> **Update** (Apr6): it has come to my attention (thanks to turtledisc) that I've been stepping on the line of violating the T &C of AO3, so to remedy that I've moved the links to both Patreon and Ko-Fi over to my blog - you can still ask questions and read up on anything you need there if you don't want to go to twitter/tumblr/email for the answers.

According to legend, he was only nineteen when the Dragons came. Large beasts with wings that eclipsed the sun and covered whole houses in their greatness. Giant lizards with teeth as long as the village’s flagpoles. The Kings of the mountains had come for their tributes.

The whole village turned out to offer their beginning tributes of food and goods on the first day of the Dragons’ arrival. Some of the Dragons took those offerings and didn’t return, but many took those offerings and returned the next day for more.

The second day, tributes of animals were given, and again some of the Dragons left and didn’t return but many came back. The third day’s tribute was gold and metals, jewels and gems. The jeweller even handed over some of her more expensive pieces. The fourth day brought tributes of books and other crafts. The village grandmother handed over bundles and bundles of knitted and woven garments.

Day five’s tribute, the final tribute, was the hardest tribute to give.

Every villager under the age of twenty-five but older than five gathered in the village square and lined up – by age and gender – in front of the Dragons.

Most of those under ten were immediately turned away, something about them making the remaining dozen Dragons snort out a puff of heavy smoke. The remaining – six six-year-olds, five seven-year-olds, nine eight-year-olds, eleven nine-year-olds, and eight ten-year-olds – all watched as the Dragons went through the older villagers as well.

Once the Dragons were finished, only half of those who had originally gathered were left. All of the five-, thirteen-, twenty-, twenty-four-, and twenty-five-year-olds had been dismissed and returned to their families.

One of the Dragons, a large silver and black scaled creature with intense blue eyes, shuffled closer, signalling the beginning of the presentation. Group by group, the remaining tributes stepped forward until, amongst the fifteen-year-olds, the Dragon pressed its large snout to the chest of the blacksmith’s dark-haired daughter. She dipped her head until it rested against its snout before both moved to the back of the group of Dragons.

The next Dragon was slightly smaller with red and brown scales and large brown eyes. Again, the groups came forward one by one until the Dragon chose the petite twenty-two-year-old daughter of the baker whose hair was red as its scales.

The two Dragons that came next – the first a large solid smoke gray with similar shaded eyes, and the second a deep blue with leaf green eyes – both chose from the eight-year-olds. The Gray Dragon chose the tall blond son of the village scribe as theirs and the Blue Dragon the slightly chubby brunette daughter of the Mayor.

The Dragon that stepped up next, whose gold scales nearly blinded everyone gathered when the sun hit them in the right way, didn’t end up choosing anyone. It bowed its head gracefully before it stepped off to the side to let the next Dragon, who could only be its sibling based on the silver and gold scales covering its body, step up. The silver Dragon nearly knocked their Chosen over in its eagerness to claim the young man. The eighteen-year-old son of the village sheriff grinned at his father before dipping his head until his dark braided hair brushed the Dragon’s scales.

It didn’t take long for the next two Dragons to find their Chosen. They both chose from the group of ten-year-olds; the larger of the two – a dark navy blue Dragon with similar eyes – picked the shy freckled blonde daughter of the village doctor, while the smaller Dragon – a light blue scaled being with similar shaded eyes – chose the puppy-like redheaded son of the village Lightkeeper.

The next Chosen was the one that the villagers hadn’t expected. He was nineteen, and the village outcast because three years earlier his parents had died and he’d disappeared into the woods around the village for a year. He came back with his skin marked up with strange symbols and all kinds of strange feathers and items woven into tied portions of his hair.

Those weren’t the most major change though; he’d left the village with eyes brown like the warm cinnamon buns the baker made for the whole village at Yule, and returned different. His once brown eyes were now violet and bright green. He frightened the adults of the village, excluding the Elders – the village grandmother, and the Mayor’s father – but the children adored him and whatever it was that he kept hidden in his little house on the edge of the village.

He didn’t even wait for the other groups to go when the white and lilac Dragon stepped to the front. He just walked up to the creature and pressed a hand to the scales of the Dragon’s chest. Staring into opal ad azure eyes, the young man waited to see what the Dragon would do and the villagers only held their breath, waiting.

The Dragon blinked at him for a long moment before pushing its snout into his chest. He smiled at it before following it away as the Dragon moved to stand in the back of the line.

The next Dragon, scaled with pale yellow scales, didn’t chose anyone but it did rub its cheek against the heads of all the remaining six-year-olds, a soft sound rumbling in its throat before it wandered off to the back of the line.

The second last Dragon, whose rose-pink scales shone white when hit with light in certain ways, pressed its nose to the chest of the Tanner’s tanned and freckled honey blond fifteen-year-old son. The boy passed a hand over the smooth scales before resting his forehead to them. He followed the Dragon away to let the last step forward.

The last Dragon was the smallest of the Dragons that had stayed. It was covered in mint green scales and its eyes were the same shade, though they seemed to be full of blue swirls as it studied all the remaining tributes.

The tribute it eventually chose was one of the sheep farmers three sons. The oldest had already gone through all twenty years of his presentation but the chosen – the second son – was on his last presentation at twenty-three. He’d recently shorn his golden blond hair off in solidarity with his mother whose hair had begun to fall out, and his light blue eyes widened in surprise when the green Dragon touched to his chest. He stared into its eyes for a long moment before he bowed his head and touched his forehead to the warm scales below him.

The rest of the tributes returned to their families and the Chosen stood next to their Dragons as their own families joined them. With kisses and hugs finished, the families returned to their homes as the Dragons dropped down enough for their Chosen to climb up and sit on their backs, or gently curled claws around bodies to pick them up.

Simultaneously, the Dragons all spread their wings and with a great _whoosh_ took off from the ground and headed back towards the mountains.

 

With the power of the Dragons’ wings, it only took until just as the sun was setting for them to reach a large ridge at midpoint of large mountain. The Dragons who’d curled claws around their Chosen, gently set them down on the ground before landing next to them.

The Outcast straightened his clothes and those of the younger children before standing up again. He turned to look at his Dragon, seeming to be waiting for something to happen.

A white whirling energy picked up and before their eyes, the white and lilac Dragon began to shrink and change sizes. It only took a moment before a pale skinned, white and lilac haired young man stood before them.

With the white and lilac as an example, the same white energy began to surround the others and after a long moment, twelve humanoid beings stood where the Dragons once had.

“How…?” The Farmer’s son questioned, staring at the mint-haired man before him.

“We have always been this way.” The Lilac told him, wrapping an arm around the Outcast’s shoulders gently. “The only ones who remember are the Elders and they will be the only ones until they choose Heirs.”

“Why are we taken?” The Blacksmith’s daughter questioned, studying her Dragon carefully.

“Every four years, we travel to each of the three villages at the base of our mountain to search out our payment for protection and the mates that we need to bring new life into our own village,” The Lilac explained. He grinned as he looked down at the Outcast. “It is not often that we get a Dragon Flame. Maybe once in a decade.”

The Outcast merely smirked up at him before turning to look at the others. “We’re chosen because we are the most compatible. Now, shall we go to our new home?”

The Dragons studied the Dragon Flame – the term for a wizard well-learned in the Draconic culture – for a long moment before dipping their heads and leading their Chosen into the cave that opened on the left side of the ridge.

The Lilac grabbed the Dragon Flame’s hands before leading him into the cave after the others. When the short hall opened into a large hollow cavern, the Lilac grinned and spoke, “Welcome home, Dragon Flame. Welcome home.”

**~Fin**

**Author's Note:**

>   
> [Personal Tumblr](http://thirteenredvampirebites.tumblr.com) / [Writing Tumblr](http://crimsonswolfden.tumblr.com/) / [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Nightworldlove) / [My Writing Blog](https://kate-lee-shadows.blogspot.ca/) / Email: thirteenredangels@hotmail.com  
> [ _New York Home_](http://archiveofourown.org/works/10057487)  
> 


End file.
